Animusic’s ‘Resonant Chamber’

Having built a couple of instruments I was intrigued to encounter this rather amazing baroque-looking automaton. Like something out of Leonardo da Vinci’s imagination, this ‘Resonant Chamber’ is actually an extraordinary animation, so well realised and detailed that it comes across as truly plausible.

The company – Animusic LLC – produces computer animations with a focus on music. What makes this work so well is that they are not an animation set to music, but rather, they are perfectly rendered and articulated 3D models that are driven by the music.

Founded by Wayne Lytle, Animusic is based in New York. It was initially called Visual Music, changed to Animusic in 1995.

The music drives the animation, so each sound is associated with a plausible action. In addition the model is rendered with very lifelike wooden textures so it really looks as though it could work if built in real life. The animated models are created first, and are then programmed to follow what the music “tells them” to. The lighting is spectacular. The whole thing is brilliantly realised, and well worth checking out the rest of their animations.